The use of pentachlorophenol and other anitmicrobial agents to treat wood and using steam to remove impregnating solvents or using water as the carrier has resulted in aqueous waste water containing the pentachlorophenol and antimicrobials. It is necessary to recover the major portion of the antimicrobial for economic reasons and now necessary to recover the remainder because of ecological reasons. The removal of the pentachlorophenol residue and other antimicrobials in the treating water permits discharge of the water into streams without detrimental effect to the environment. However, more advantageously it permits reuse of the waste in chemical processing, removing any ecological problems and producing an economy in water usage permitting plant site locations off riparian ways.
These and other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description.